Our guided tours in the frame of the Cultural Heritage Days focus on the history of the University Library and Archives, Eötvös Loránd University.

The library palace was designed by Antal Szkalnitzky. Up-to-date technology of the time was used for ventilation, heating and illumination. The tour will take you through the entrance hall decorated with sgraffiti to the reading room with figures on its ceiling which symbolise sciences and arts. Besides the magnificent art and architecture of the reading room of the University Library and Archives, you can also see an oil-painting of the middle-aged Franc Joseph I. by Mór Than. Our librarians will tell you the secrets, and show you the hidden nooks and crannies of the library.

Join our library tour! More details about our programs are available on our homepage and the official website of the Cultural Heritage Days. All visitors are welcome!

Guided tours:

University Library and Archives, Eötvös Loránd University

1053 Budapest, Ferenciek tere 6.

21/09/2024, Saturday – 12:00–12:30

21/09/2024, Saturday – 13:00–13:30

21/09/2024, Saturday – 14:00–14:30

21/09/2024, Saturday – 15:00–15:30

The ELTE University Library and Archives hosted a delegation from Ningbo University on the 9th of July 2024.

The Chinese delegation took part in a guided tour of the library, a guided tour of the Copernicus Memorial Exhibition and a Chinese-themed book presentation to foster international cultural relations. In the spring, the Tienji Library and Museum, also in Ningbo, shared their history and collections in an online discussion. The institutions remain committed to deepening international and inter-institutional cultural relations and cooperation.

The training of secondary school teachers began at the Faculty of Humanities of our university in the mid-19th century. Candidates had to pass an examination before the Secondary School Teachers’ Examination Board, set up in 1862, to obtain their teaching diplomas. The Commission functioned until 1949.

During this period, almost 17 000 students from all over the country passed the examinations. All the examination registers in the Commission's archives between 1864 and 1949 have been catalogued and the database contains the names of the students who sat the examinations, their degree, the date of the examination and the archival reference of the register. The database is here available.

At the second quarterly report of the K21 Quality Coordination Committee 2024, the leaders of the working groups reported on the results of the past quarter, ongoing work and changes.

The University Library Service (ULS) Quality Improvement Report and the Non-Compliant Services Report were completed and approved. The Accessible Library Working Group has reviewed and modified the Guide to Facilities and Rules for Serving Readers with Disabilities in ULS Libraries. The document has been uploaded to EDIT and is now available to all ULS librarians. 

The Primary Research Working Group has started to evaluate the data of the 2024 Student Needs and Satisfaction Survey provided by the ELTE Quality Office and is continuously revising the text on surveys in the Quality Handbook. The Process Management Working Group has also made suggestions for the Library Process Control chapter of the Quality Handbook and will hold a meeting to discuss the modification of the Process Management and Process Audit forms.

The Communication Working Group provided information on the tasks and achievements of the K21 Quality Coordination Committee through our website, newsletter and short film entitled 3 months – 3 minutes, and contributed to the success of the preparation and administration of the K21 reporting days meetings. The Green Library Working Group has continued a review of the environmental awareness survey.

The library leaders held five meetings in the second quarter to discuss, among other things, the new communication strategy and the ULS-CHANGE newsletter, the current tasks of the EISZ 2025 order, the schedule for uploading theses from the previous academic year to EDIT and related tasks, and the development of the new thesis repository. The leaders reviewed and updated their library assimilation documents and attended a two-day leadership training in mid-May. The ULS Strategy Workshop took place on the 18th and 19th of June 2024, during which the mission statement and vision of the ULS and the tasks related to the strategic objectives were finalised.

An update on the achievements of the K21 Quality Coordination Committee and our new developments will be posted on our website soon.

Oxford University Press welcomes all interested parties to the following English-language webinars. Webinars are free to attend, but needs registration.

Oxford Art Online
July 2, 2024 (Tuesday), 13:00-14:00 CEST
Registration

Oxford Music Online
July 3, 2024 (Wednesday), 11:00-12:00 CEST
Registration

Oxford Medicine Online
July 5, 2024 (Friday), 11:00-12:00 CEST
Registration

Law Migration on Oxford Academic
July 18, 2024 (Thursday), 12:00-13:00 CEST
Registration

Research Journey across OUP’s Resources in the Fields of Politics, and Business and Management
July 23, 2024 (Tuesday), 11:00-12:00 CEST
Registration

Oxford English Dictionary and Oxford Dictionaries Online. What is the difference?
July 24, 2024 (Wednesday), 11:00-12:00 CEST
Registration

The ELTE University Library and Archives hosted a Greek and Turkish delegation from the University of Thessaly and Hacettepe University between the 24th and the 28th of June 2024.

In line with Eötvös Loránd University's strategic goal of internationalisation, our institution is committed to international exchange, sharing of good practices and continuous service improvement in order to increase library users’ satisfaction.

The Greek and Turkish guests, who arrived during the Erasmus+ Programme, participated in the international professional networking programme and were given a guided tour of the library, our Copernicus exhibition and our restoration workshop, as well as a presentation of our library services, the BoYL project, our community spaces, our databases, our EDIT reference room and our service developments.

Members of the Greek delegation also gave a presentation on their library services, their ongoing nationalisation plans and their databases. A round table discussion was also held to exchange views. The institutional partners participating in this series of events are open to further cooperation where possible.

On the 18th and 19th of June 2024, the staff of the ELTE University Library Service (ULS) participated in a workshop on quality development led by Dr. Attila Szoboszlai, trainer.

During the two days, ELTE librarians developed a new vision and mission statement.  The strategic objectives of the ULA for the next three years were defined.

Nowadays, it seems inconceivable that serious scientists of past centuries could have attached so much importance to the current positions of stars and planets.

Diseases, wars, famines or perhaps good harvests, royal weddings and great discoveries await mankind? All this was thought to be read from the signs in the heavens. Join us in our search for the heavens and visit our Copernicus Memorial Exhibition entitled „The man who moved the Earth out of its place”. The exhibition will be open until the 10th of September 2024, on weekdays between 10.00 and 15.00, registration is possible by e-mail at titkarsag@lib.elte.hu.

According to our tradition, this year we joined the Night of Museums series of events, which included craft activities, concerts, guided tours, restoration and calligraphy workshops, as well as an exhibition entitled Copernicus Memorial Exhibition. 

The programme opened with a concert by the ELTE „Eötvös” Art Ensemble String Quartet from the ELTE University Concert Orchestra in the lobby, featuring works by Mozart, Telemann, Elgar and Mendelssohn.

Through our building tours, visitors were given an insight into the history of the library and the rooms of the historic building. They were also able to learn about the restoration process, our museum collection, the life and work of Loránd Eötvös and create unique hardcover books. During our event, our guests were able to attend the concert of the soloists of the Sabbathsong Klezmer Band and the world-famous cimbalom player Jenő Lisztes, entitled More than Klezmer on the Night of Museums.

This year’s event also included the presentation of the Copernicus Memorial Exhibition. Visitors were able to take an interesting quiz based on the exhibition, colour bookmarks and use our library puzzles to build our library palace and reassemble fragments of our codex pages.

The Copernicus Memorial Exhibition is open until the 10th of September 2024, from 10.00 to 15.00 on weekdays. Registration is possible at titkarsag@lib.elte.hu.

Iván Nagy, genealogist, historian and former colleague of our library was born 200 years ago, on 18 July 1824 in Balassagyarmat. Between 1855 and 1870 he was a member of the staff of the University Library first as a librarian and then as the first guard from 1859. As a librarian, he was involved in the compilation of the basic catalogue and the reading service, and also engaged in significant scientific activities: he published several sources from the manuscript archives of our library dating from 16th and 17th centuries, and between 1857 and 1868 he published his major work in twelve volumes, Families of Hungary with Coats of Arms and Genealogical Tables.

On the day of the anniversary, the statue of Iván Nagy was worshipped in the Palóc Museum of the Hungarian National Museum, followed by a cerenomy of remembrance and toasts by representatives of institutions connected with Iván Nagy’s life, work and legacy. The event concluded with an interactive genealogy presentation by Nógrád County archivists.